EXPLOSIVELY COY
The third Transformers film grossed $1.1 billion at the box office, which is the fourth-highest gross of all time and also the reason the fourth seal popped (Why hello there, pale horse). Hasbro also made $482 million in toy sales on the first movie, over $600 million on the second, and an undisclosed sum on the third. (I asked a Hasbro executive how much, but his eyes just rolled back in his head and dollar signs appeared, then his cigar fell out of his mouth and steam poured out of his ears. So that was weird.) With all this cash rolling in, it shouldn’t be surprising that the studio wants two more movies even though Shia LaBeouf already said he’s not interested and Michael Bay was supposed to have filmed his final be-mulleted, spastic, huge-nutted robot for the franchise.
Yesterday, however, Vulture reported an insider told them Bay was in final negotiations to direct a fourth Transformers film, and another insider told them the deal was “not far from closing” with an announcement coming as soon as next week. Vulture also says the fourth installment is not a prequel and will “delve deeper into the Transformers canon to mine older characters and lore”. Says one of their insiders: “Regular people might not care about bringing out a character like Sentinel Prime. But believe me, fans of the series cared.” Meh. Anything that isn’t Optimus Prime is dead to me. Dead. To. Me. YOU HEAR ME, LABEOUF?
So, is Bay really directing the fourth Transformers? Bay neither confirmed nor denied the rumor with a post on his official website:
Right now I’m not decided on Transformers 4. Studio’s are passing rumors but I’m not sure what I’m doing? I know I’m going to do Pain and Gain early spring but that’s it for right now. I’m leaving all my options on the table. I’ve got several Studio meetings in the next two weeks.
I know this is from his website, and the grammar is predictably atrocious, but I’m still not certain this is really Bay. There wasn’t a single explosion or dolly shot of people looking up in that post. I had to add all the explosion sounds with my own mouth.